Logan Heights  Barrio Logan, which opened the Mercado del Barrio mixed-use project last year, won another plum this week with a $25,000 grant for a community garden.

The San Diego Architectural Foundation selected the garden to receive the community vision award, as proposed by the Environmental Health Coalition. The funds will come from the county government.

The official presentation of the award will be made at community celebration from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 4 at the mercado project at Cesar Chavez Parkway and National Avenue.

Georgette Gomez, associate director of the coalition, said the preferred site for the garden is just east of the Mercado's parking lot on a city-owned lot adjacent to Chicano Park beneath the San Diego-Coronado Bridge. She hopes the garden can be designed and built in time for vegetables to be harvested in about a year.

"One of things I'm constantly hearing from residents is that there's not enough green space," Gomez said, "and I feel this type of project will create an exciting project they can be proud of."

She said the garden will be large enough for 10 to 15 families to plant small plots of tomatoes, lettuce, greens and perhaps medicinal plants.

Leslee Shaffer, executive director of the architectural foundation, said the award and grant are meant as a "thank you" for a winning neighborhood's embrace of smart growth and infill development.

The Mercado del Barrio, including 92 apartments, retail and restaurant and office space for local services, was designed by Safdie Rabines Architects and developed by Chelsea Investment and Shea Properties.

Previous recipients of the community vision award include North Park Main Street for the Hamilton Row homes, Greater Golden Hill Community Development Corp. for the MXD830 mixed-use project and Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation for the Village at Market Creek Plaza.